Facial plastic surgery might actually make men more attractive, likeable and trustworthy
Going under the knife might give you more than a youthful look. It could actually change — for the better — how people perceive you.
A recent study tried to examine people's perception towards individuals who had facial plastic surgery, and it found that men who have a nip or a tuck on their face appeared more attractive, likeable, trustworthy, and as if they have better social skills. The study included various types of procedures such as face-lift, neck-lift, brow-lift, and surgeries involving the upper eyelid, lower eyelid, and nose. The findings state that subtle changes in facial appearances are powerful enough to alter judgments of personality.
The study is not superficial, say the researchers as it shows that the importance of facial appearance is rooted in evolution and judging a person based on his or her appearance boils down to survival.
“Facial cosmetic surgery has previously focused on improvements in perceived physical attractiveness and youthfulness. However, human beings are judged throughout life based on many other characteristics and personal qualities that are conveyed by their faces. The results of this study suggest that men undergoing facial cosmetic surgery may experience changes in perceived attractiveness, masculinity, and a variety of personality traits. These findings complement those from a previous study on female patients, which together broaden the understanding of the association of cosmetic surgery with societal perceptions of persona,” says the study conducted by plastic surgeons at Georgetown University Medical Center.
However, except for a neck-lift procedure, none of the other surgeries had any significant impact on perceptions of gender or masculinity. This is in sharp contrast to a similar research performed with women in 2015, which had shown a significant increase in ratings of femininity.
For the current study, 24 men underwent facial cosmetic surgery by one of two Georgetown surgeons - Michael J. Reilly and Steven P. Davison. “The men had one or more of the following surgeries: upper eyelid lift (upper blepharoplasty), reduction of lower eyelids (lower blepharoplasty), face-lift, brow-lift, neck-lift, nose reshaping (rhinoplasty), and/or a chin implant,” says the paper.
The men paid for their surgery and agreed to the use of their 'before' and 'after' photographs for the research. The researchers designed six surveys, and each included eight photographs (four before surgery, four after surgery). The pictures were shown to over 150 participants, aged 25-34 years. The reviewers, who were mostly white and had a college degree, had to rate their perception of each patients’ personality traits. The qualities covered aggressiveness, extroversion, likeability, risk-seeking, sociability, trustworthiness, attractiveness, and masculinity. No reviewer saw both the before and after photographs of the same person.
The findings were statistically significant, say the researchers, adding that the reviews overall reflected increased perceptions of attractiveness, likeability, social skills, and trustworthiness. Chin augmentation, according to the analysis, was the only procedure that did not affect perceived attractiveness, masculinity, or personality. This, say the surgeons, could be attributed to the fact that very few patients, who were part of the study, underwent this procedure.
The findings were published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.